"Yeah, you get that sort of silliness, in a lot of JRPG's. In the majority of the games I've seen, you never get an explanation for why the main character and his/her allies are so over-the-top kick-ass. It's often just a…"

"Heh, let me know if you need any other caffeine-related advice. I have all sorts of experience in that area.
Well, I know why they have all of the ridiculous peekaboo, please-impale-me-here exposures in female armor. :-p It just…"

"Oh yeah. I remember college. Never would have made it without some serious caffeine abuse.
I suggest you take it pretty slowly, at first. Hell, if you've never been exposed to it before, you can probably get a hell of a charge…"

"You've never even tried caffeine? Heretic!^.^
Wow, I can imagine how hard it would hit you, if you've never had any. Depends what kind of body mass you have, I guess. Plus, caffeine seems to hit women much harder than…"

"Ooh, nice choice of fields. Where are you going, after you get your degree? I can't imagine there's much in the way of video game development, in Utah. Isn't that somewhere on the list, along with alcohol, caffeine,…"

"Hello ErinWelcome to this world of rationality and peace, where pure common sense is enough to lead to the open freethinking wisdom common to non-believers like you and us.We invite you to join the busy group "ORIGINS: Universe, Astronomy,…"

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Yeah, you get that sort of silliness, in a lot of JRPG's. In the majority of the games I've seen, you never get an explanation for why the main character and his/her allies are so over-the-top kick-ass. It's often just a bunch of kids who for no apparent reason are able to wade through armies of seasoned veterans.

Final Fantasy 6 (originally 3, here in America, on the Super Nintendo) is one of the last ones I remember which made an attempt. The first main character was a super-powered girl who was in possession of magic, in a world that had lost use of it, for the most part. Several other characters were similarly elite, although some were a bit nonsensical.

You get a more rational reason, in games like Dragon Age: Origins. In that, the core characters are the remnants of an elite, demonically-imbued (sort of) force of warriors, plus a renegade mage who was trained by a dragon. You can kind of see it a little more.

Plus, the fact that my female protagonist could hook up with Leliana was cool, despite her being a bit of a religious nut. Alas, Morrigan isn't into girls.

But yeah, when my female warrior threw on a huge suit of armor, it was actually a full suit of armor. Some of the earlier suits of armor were a little spare in the leg and belly protection, but ... well, that's why they were lower protection-value armor. They also lacked a bit in the way of coverage, on male characters, so it's wasn't just an excuse for T&A.

Plus, the game just looked beautiful, so we got the beauty of form thrown in, as well.

Heh, let me know if you need any other caffeine-related advice. I have all sorts of experience in that area.

Well, I know why they have all of the ridiculous peekaboo, please-impale-me-here exposures in female armor. :-p It just can't be rectified with the actual purpose of the armor.

It's been a while, since I've played Final Fantasy X. I forget, did they even have any armor you could swap out, or was it just the weapons? In that kind of situation, yeah, it wasn't a military scenario, in which you would want heavy protection.

Sometimes speed can be sufficient. It makes a little more sense in the cases of witch elves, in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. They're from a very agile race, and they're somewhat-skilled martial artists. The exposure of their outfits can sort of be justified by the gladiatorial sports of their culture ... even if it's the case that the justification was thought up so they could have skimpy clothing and not the other way around. ^.^

Yeah, there's a great deal of other bad design, besides the outfits themselves. Heh. There's a reason people normally wore their swords on their hip. In a video game, though, people normally design things with form in mind, rather than function.

Oh yeah. I remember college. Never would have made it without some serious caffeine abuse.

I suggest you take it pretty slowly, at first. Hell, if you've never been exposed to it before, you can probably get a hell of a charge from a 12 or 16 ounce mug of black tea. If you're a light-weight, even that might be a bit much for you, at first. Coffee might make you a little sick and give you headaches, if your body isn't used to caffeine.

I recommend going to Starbucks for a chai tea latte. They're freaking delicious.

Hmm, being a bit reclusive would help somewhat, but still, you'd be under the laws of the state of TEXAS. The only reason they don't arrest gay people anymore is because the US Supreme Court made them stop ... in 2003!!! It's kind of crazy over there.

Austin is a fairly liberal city, but they're subject to the laws imposed by the bat-shit crazy conservatives that make up the bulk of the Texas population. I dunno.

Canada would be good, though, if you can tolerate the cold. Since I'm originally from the Chicago area, it wouldn't be too bad for me.

Seriously, if we were in the kind of position in which Romney took the White House, and we had the accompanying shift in congress to be even more Republican, I might consider it time to jump ship. With the damage Romney would have done to the Supreme Court, this place might have started becoming unlivable.

That's cool that you're somewhat relaxed about the ridiculous stuff they put female warriors in, in fantasy games. Some of it ... yeah.

Okay, if you've got a sorceress or something, then fine. She's not relying on physical protection, in any way, so it doesn't matter if she's half-naked. That female warrior with the steel-plate bikini and the chain-mail top that leaves her abdomen completely exposed is kind of silly. She has vital organs behind her navel, too.

That reminds me of one of the characters from a table-top war game called Warmachine, in which they mocked that particular trend in fantasy gaming. All of the heroes have two versions, one from before the great war, and an "epic" version from after the great war.

One of the female characters wears a suit of plate armor from head to toe, except her belly is bare from her pelvis to right below her breasts. Then, the "epic" version of her is undead and has heavy stitching going around her waist, from where her halves were sewn back together, after she got sliced in half during the great battle.

Ah, here we go. Before:

And after:

So, you see what happens, when you go running into battle, dressed like that. Nice eye candy for you, though, until she gets sliced in half.

I see what you mean about Lightning. Everything is going well, dressing her reasonably, and then ... is that a tennis skirt? Kind of a silly outfit for a military officer.

Wow, I can imagine how hard it would hit you, if you've never had any. Depends what kind of body mass you have, I guess. Plus, caffeine seems to hit women much harder than guys ... although that could be body mass, in part.

Jeeze, there's a piece of EA over there? Weird.

I have no idea where Bioware is located, but there are lots of smaller companies ... well, all over the place. Hell, we have 20 or 30 video game companies, here in the Triangle. Cary, NC seems to be big in the video game industry.

Austin, TX apparently has a few big companies, but then you'd have to live in Texas. I'm not sure I could cope with that, myself.

And then there are the usual media centers, which also have video game companies, like you'd expect.

Hmm, so does being gay help you enjoy the objectification that's so prevalent within the video game industry? I always wonder how that would go, whether your sympathy with the scantily-clad woman or your appreciation of her would win. My empathy with the female side of the species can only ever give me a vague idea of how women actually think about things.

Ooh, nice choice of fields. Where are you going, after you get your degree? I can't imagine there's much in the way of video game development, in Utah. Isn't that somewhere on the list, along with alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco? Damned things are more addictive than the three official bans.

Hello ErinWelcome to this world of rationality and peace, where pure common sense is enough to lead to the open freethinking wisdom common to non-believers like you and us.We invite you to join the busy group "ORIGINS: Universe, Astronomy, Life, Earth, Humans, Religion, Gods, Atheism, Evolution, Darwin..." with 700 discussion topics and 3600+ members.http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/originsuniverselifehumankindanddarwinTerry